All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 808
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - April 2013
Construction of the western extension of Paris RER Line E is expected to begin in 2014 for opening in 2020, following the award of a contract in February. An 8 km tunnel between Haussmann-Saint-Lazare and Nanterre-la-Folie, with three new stations, will carry trains through La Defense to join RFF's existing ...
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NewsRZD to order 350 electric locomotives
RUSSIA: A memorandum of understanding setting out plans to order 350 locomotives was signed by Russian Railways, Siemens and Sinara Group at the Hannover Messe trade fair on April 8. A firm contract is expected to be signed in 2014. The single-section AC and DC electric locomotives for use on ...
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NewsMoscow metro and tram designs unveiled
RUSSIA: Bombardier Transportation and Russian partner Uralvagonzavod unveiled a proposed metro trainset design for Russia and the CIS region at the Hannover Messe trade fair in Germany on April 8, along with the styling of the 120 Flexity low-floor trams which wagon and defence equipment supplier UVZ is to build ...
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NewsBombardier signs ICx variation order
GERMANY: On April 8 Bombardier Transportation announced a €336m variation order to its framework agreement to supply components for the ICx inter-city trains which Deutsche Bahn has ordered from Siemens. This reflects DB's decision to add a further 170 vehicles to the initial order. Under the agreement with Siemens, the ...
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NewsGraham Smith
Graham Smith has been named Director General of the Rail Delivery Group, which brings Britain’s passenger and freight operators and Network Rail together with the aim of providing leadership to the rail industry.
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News'Metro style' suburban rail upgrade proposed for Melbourne
AUSTRALIA: Public Transport Victoria has published a set of long-term proposals for upgrading Melbourne's rail network on March 27, setting out a strategy to increase capacity and reach areas currently not served. The state transport authority said the Network Development Plan - Metropolitan Rail is based on detailed analysis of ...
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NewsDB orders containerised train de-icing units
GERMANY: Following successful trials of using hot water to de-ice rolling stock in winter, DB Regio has ordered two containerised heating units rated at 560 kW and 2 000 kW from Hotmobil Deutschland. DB has previously used hot air to remove up to two tonnes of ice from vehicles in ...
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NewsZambia Railways rehabilitation programme
ZAMBIA: The government has released US$120m in funding to enable Zambia Railways to start work on a three-year rehabilitation programme. A second track is planned on the 900 km line from Chingola to Livingstone, along which a second weekly passenger train has been launched. The Ndola – Luanshya branch is ...
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NewsCFR Marfa privatisation bids invited
ROMANIA: The Ministry of Transport formally advertised the sale of a 51% stake in national rail freight operator CFR Marfa on April 5. The starting price is 797m lei. Documentation will be available from April 9, with preliminary and non-binding offers to be submitted by April 23. The prequalified bidders ...
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NewsRoy Hill railway contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Construction of the proposed 342 km railway to serve the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is on course for completion by November 2015, following the award of an A$5·9bn contract to Samsung C&T. Under the deal, South Korea’s second largest construction company ...
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NewsHigh speed track and electrification contract awarded
MOROCCO: A consortium of Colas Rail, local subsidiary Colas Rail Maroc and Egis Rail has been awarded a design and build contract covering track, overhead electrification and facilities at two work sites on the 183 km high speed line being built between Tanger and Kénitra Announcing the contract on April ...
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NewsPanamá metro trainset on test in Barcelona
PANAMA: A Metropolis trainset built for Line 1 of the Panamá City metro by Alstom Transport at its Santa Perpètua de Mogoda plant in Spain has begun eight weeks of traction, braking and endurance trials on the FGC network in Barcelona. Based at FGC’s Rubí depot, the trainset is being ...
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NewsManuel Niño
Manuel Niño has been appointed Secretary General of Infrastructure at Spain’s Ministry of Development, while his former post as Director General of Railways has been filled by Miguel Pozo.
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NewsChengdu aims to complete 291 km of metro by 2020
CHINA: The second phase of the Chengdu metro network which was approved on February 25 would see a further 183·3 km of line completed by 2020. Together with the Phase 1 works still in progress, this would take the network to 291·3 route-km and eight lines. Line 1 will be ...
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NewsFRA assesses Northeast Corridor upgrading options
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration issued on April 2 a Preliminary Alternatives Report to mark the start of the Department of Transportation’s formal study of options to develop the Boston – New York – Washington Northeast Corridor. FRA says its report, entitled ‘NEC Future’, is the first step to developing ...
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NewsRegioJet awarded pilot Czech operating contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Ministry of Transport announced on March 26 that it had awarded private operator RegioJet a contract to run subsidised passenger services on the 144 km Ostrava - Opava - Krnov - Olomouc route for 15 years from December 2014. This is intended as the pilot for the ...
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NewsMetLife invests in IEP
UK: MetLife Inc, a US-based provider of insurance and pensions products, announced on April 4 that it had acquired a minority stake in Agility Trains West Ltd for an undisclosed sum. This consortium was formed by Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laing Investments to supply and maintain a fleet of ...
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NewsTanger - Kénitra high speed line signalling contract signed
MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has awarded a consortium of Ansaldo STS France and Cofely Ineo a €120m contract to design and supply signalling and telecoms for the 183 km high speed line under construction between Tanger and Kénitra. Consortium leader Ansaldo STS is to provide ETCS Level 1 and 2 ...
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NewsPowerHaul fuel savings demonstrated
UK: GE Transportation has published the results of a series of back-to-back fuel consumption comparisons between its Class 70 PowerHaul locomotive and the GM-EMD Class 66. This follows a study on improving the fuel efficiency of diesel traction undertaken by Ricardo for the Department for Transport. Ricardo put forward a ...
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NewsHuawei to provide GSM-R in South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has awarded a consortium of Huawei and local partner Altech Alcom Matomo a R485m contract to equip 1 200 km of commuter routes in Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng with GSM-R communications. The contract signed on March 28 covers the provision of ...